Photo bought at a thrift shop for $2 could fetch $5,000,000 at auction

Billy the Kid is one of the most famous outlaws in the American Old West, inspiring countless legends, movies, even a ballet.

Now, 134 years after his death, the infamous outlaw could soon have another distinction: being the subject of the most expensive photograph of all time.

According to a coins and collectibles shop called Kagin's, Inc., collector Randy Guijarro bought the photo for just two dollars as a part of a lot at a Fresno, California junk shop five years ago.

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Billy the Kid photo sells for $5M

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Photo bought at a thrift shop for $2 could fetch $5,000,000 at auction

1881: Wild West criminal Billy the Kid (1859 - 1881) meets his end at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This violent scene is the finale of G Waldo Browne's 'Dandy Rock, the Man from Texas'. A woodcut from Beadle's Half Dime Library. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

circa 1880: American outlaw William Bonney (1859 - 1881), better known as Billy the Kid. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

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For as famous as he is, when it comes to photographs, Bill the Kid's about as elusive as Blue Ivy Carter circa 2013. The only other known photo of him is an 1880 portrait taken in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

It fetched $2.3 million when it was auctioned in 2010, so Kagin's is expecting the new image to go for $5 million when it goes up for bidding.

Taken in 1878, the new photo reportedly shows Billy the Kid and several members of his gang, The Regulators, playing a nice game of croquet in the summertime.

While that sounds perfectly lovely, the seemingly "care-free" image was taken just one month after the end of the deadly Lincoln County War.

"When we first saw the photograph, we were understandably skeptical ... an original Billy the Kid photo is the Holy Grail of Western Americana."
David McCarthy, Kagin's senior numismatist

Kagin's says its experts have authenticated the photo, making this only the second known photograph of the legendary outlaw.

"When we first saw the photograph, we were understandably skeptical – an original Billy the Kid photo is the Holy Grail of Western Americana," Kagin's senior numismatist, David McCarthy, said in a statement.

The photo is even the subject of a new special National Geographic focused on the outlaw, narrated by Kevin Costner.

All the attention will no doubt inspire many people to learn more about Billy the Kid and his gang, who were apparently the original Heathers.

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Photo bought at a thrift shop for $2 could fetch $5,000,000 at auction